Yeah, it’s me again. I have another complaint, but don’t worry I’ll spare you guys and complain about something else. Ever since the conception of the DualShock controller, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the control found in newer games. Let me say now that I absolutely hate Sony’s attempt at an analog control pad. I find it to be awkward, slippery, and flimsy. As I was saying, I’ve found that games seem to be slowly phasing out the usefulness of digital controllers.
For the most part, this slow transition has not affected me because it has come in the form of games like Croc, and other free-roaming games. These games haven’t gone so far as to make digital control unavailable, however they give a distinct advantage to those who prefer/use the analog control sticks. recently, my territory was invaded. While playing NFS: High Stakes, I realized that something was wrong with the game. It took me a few races before I realized that controlling with the d-pad was sluggish at best. I then tried analog (which remember, I hate); I was then able to shave 5 seconds off my best times with controlling which felt awkward.
Is Sony punishing those of us who prefer our old-school methods of control? Are they slowly forcing us to buy those goofy analog things? Couldn’t they at least make an analog controller that was remotely comfortable? Quite frankly, if I wanted to play with analog controlling, I’d go out and buy an N64, and let me tell you those days are far off. Just thought I’d tell you that Sony’s monopolizing one of their products.
--Suspiciously yours, Jared Watson
P.S. My friend said “If I don’t get at least a B in Science class I’ll give you a PlayStation controller.” He got a C. Please tell him to cough that baby up. And tell him that none of that analog crap can be accepted.
PSExtreme: It’s the nature of driving games to control better with an analog controller. How well would you car drive if you had to steer it with a d-pad?? Pretty poorly. Driving games that came out before analog had very unrealistic handling because they basically steered for you. It was more like an interactive movie than a driving game... all you had to do was memorize where the correct spots to hit left or right were and at what speed you should be going into a corner, and you’d be good.
As for action games, we haven’t found any that didn’t control with the d-pad, even though they may control better with the analog pad. Analog control is simply superior, giving more precise control over the amount and direction of movement you have. With a d-pad you have the choice of moving in 8 directions and you’re either moving or not. With analog, you’ve got a choice of up to 256 directions, with up to 256 increments of speed. There are a myriad of third-party analog controllers available if you don’t like Sony’s design. If you’re on the Internet, check out MadCatz, Interact, Nyko, and others to see the wide selection available. Better yet, use a search engine and look for “PlayStation” and “analog.”
PSExtreme Magazine, Volume 44, July 1999
